Austin--The Celeste Blue Devils of Northeast Texas bowed out of the 44th Annual State Schoolboy Basketball Tournament here Thursday morning, losing a Class B quarterfinals game to Frankston's Indians, 71 - 52.
Frankston, representing the East Texas region in the Class B division of the tournament and state champion in 1961, had little trouble with Celeste. The Indians were superior in height and clicked off a hot fifty-three percent shooting from the field to rip the Region 3 champion Blue Devils.
Jimmy Moore, a 6' 5" jumping-jack from Frankston, dominated the boards in rebounding and joined by teammates, won this department over Celeste, 48 - 29.
Joe Tillerson, Celeste's top all-around player and tallest member on the squad at 6' 2", stayed close to Moore in rebounding and led both teams in scoring with his twenty-seven points. Tillerson had nine rebounds and Moore pulled down twelve. But Moore had more help from his tall teammates. Therefore, Celeste usually just got one shot at the basket.
In addition to having a cold morning from the field (the game was played at 8:45 AM) rebounding probably accounted for Celeste's below-par shooting accuracy of thirty-seven percent.
Celeste led only once in the game. That was a 2 - 0 first basket counter. Frankston tied it up quick at 2 - 2 and again at 4 - 4 and then started the drive home.
By the end of the first period Frankston led 24 - 13 as Moore, Larry Cook, and Roger House poured in the points. The Indians stormed to a 38 - 18 half-time lead as Tillerson was the only Celeste player able to crack the basket. He got two field goals in the second period and David Pruitt sank a free throw.
Tillerson got in foul trouble in the first half and picked up his fourth foul on the first play of the third quarter. However, he didn't foul out of the game, but had to slow his pace.
Frankston had a thirty-four point lead, 69 - 35, with four minutes left in the game. Celeste caught fire as Ronnie Clinton, Lloyd Lanier, and Tillerson began to hit. But it was too late then. The Blue Devils could only narrow the margin to nineteen points by the end of the game.
The loss eliminated Celeste from the state tournament, which started with the top six Class B teams in the state vying for the championship. Celeste ended an outstanding season of thirty-three victories and eight losses.
Coach G. W. Tillerson and his Blue Devils will, however, remain in Austin for the remainder of the tournament.
Celeste
David Pruitt......3...3...5...4...9
Lloyd Lanier.....3...0...0...1...6
Joe Tillerson..10..7...9...4..27
Bud Roach.......1..0...5...3....2
Ronnie Clinton.2..0...1...0....4
Mark Hackney.0..0...0...1....0
Totals....21...10...29...14...52
Frankston
Cook.........9...0...6...2...18
Vermillion.5...2...9...1...12
Moore.....11...3..12..1...25
Fitzgerald..0..2....3...1....2
House........6..2....6...2..14
Smith,G.....0..0....0...9....0
Totals.......31...9...48...11...71
(Undated clipping)
Submitted by Sarah Swindell
Back to History in News Articles
Back to Hunt County
